E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Loafers.
Tramps, thieves, and the ne’er-do-well. Idle fellows who get their living by expedients; chevaliers d’industrie. (German, läufer, a runner; Dutch, looper.)
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“Until the differentiation of the labourer from the loafer takes place, the unemployed question can never be properly dealt with.”—Nineteenth Century, December, 1893, p. 855.
